The announcement on Monday that the UK and Canada have agreed to share embassies may have been more about saving money than cultural exchange, but an embassy is not just an outpost of government officialdom on remote soil. It is also a cultural beacon, a tiny slice of your nation's habits, quirks and oddities.

• The Canadian town of Churchill is home to the world's only polar bear prison, a 28-cell facility where bears are fed nothing but water during their month-long incarceration to deter them from returning to the area.

• Comic books depicting any illegal acts are banned in Canada as they would appear to condone "offences tending to corrupt morals".